Went out on a stunning Sydney Autumn afternoon with another mate, we're both amateurs/ man grommets which is why we chose a small day as our baptism at the bower. There were two paddle surfers, a guy riding a mal, a guy in a kayak and a Brazilian guy on a short board who was also out there for the first time and me and my mate on a fish 6'8"and epoxy 6'8' respectively.

It was just about bang on high tide, but you could tell it wasn't a very high high-tide, as the water mark was visible on the rocks on the point. (I've just checked the tide reading was 1.4m, and it can get up to 1.7m)

For high tide I was surprised how shallow the water was. This is also due to the fact that as it was so small, we just paddled from Shelley beach out through the break. I can't imagine that you would do this with any size about. In any case, we paddled out and I could touch the bottom easily where we were waiting for waves.

Finally a wave came through that hadn't been snaffled by one of the other longer more adapted surf craft to the conditions, and it was good quality. It was small but a clean little face to follow and presumably do something on if I knew how to surf well. We'd surfed North Steyne earlier in the day and the lines were so square with the Easterly swell that it was closing out perfectly, so this was a welcome change.

I caught two other nice mellow waves which were perfectly adapted to my level. The take off was very smooth with a shoulder and plenty of time to get up, relatively speaking. Generally the waves were very mellow as well.

Would be interested to surf again in slightly larger conditions to see where the waves break with a bit more size. Some of the rocks just jut out, 10 cm from the surface. I would probably consider a helmet if it was big next time, just to tick all the boxes of man grommetry....

The spot itself is breathtakingly beautiful and the paddle out past scuba and snorklers, with people walking by on the promenade, gives this spot a really unique feel. Shelley beach has the advantage of catching the very last rays of western sun as well. Manly gets dark about 15 minutes earlier due to the buildings and trees obstructing the light.

The unofficial language of Shelley beach is French by the way. It seemed every time I overheard anyone speak on the walk out there, it was in French. Vive la France!!